1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to cardroom gaming involving multi-tiered wagering. More particularly, it relates to a gaming apparatus with a photoelectric sensing device having a gaming token supporter that is flush mounted to a game playing surface.
2. Background of the Art
Cardroom gaming involves many games, including multi-tiered wagering games. Such games provide a player with the opportunity to place a side bet on an additional game played in conjunction with a basic or underlying game. These cardroom games may be located at a plurality of remote locations and may be connected to each other to provide a large number of players an opportunity to play for a large common cash prize.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,067 to Paulsen et al. (“Paulsen”) discloses a coin acceptor for use in a prior art apparatus for automatically sensing the presence of gaming tokens used in cardroom gaming. The Paulsen coin acceptor is a circular disk the under side of which is placed directly on top of the conventional felt on the table. The disk has a concentric, circular recess in its upper side that is shaped to accept the coin. The outer periphery of the disk is frustoconically shaped and extends from about the under side of the upper side at an appropriately shallow angle of no more than 30° so that players can readily slide a coin along the felt, up the frustoconical ramp of the disk, and into the recess to place a bet. A coin acceptor of the type disclosed in Paulsen has several problems: (1) inconveniences the dealer when he/she is clearing the table; (2) slows down the number games that may be played in a given period of time, thereby reducing the potential revenue at a particular table; and (3) may reduce the longevity of clay gaming tokens.
First, when the dealer is clearing the table, the recess in which the coin is placed inconveniences the dealer because the dealer cannot sweep all the gaming tokens off the table. Because of the recessed coin acceptor, the dealer must individually remove each gaming token located in a coin acceptor. Thus, a coin support structure which will allow the dealer to more conveniently remove the coins from the gaming table would be very helpful in the cardroom gaming industry.
Second, cardroom gaming facilities want to provide players with as many opportunities to place bets as possible. In a given period of time, if the number of hands played at a table is reduced because it takes the dealer more time to remove coins from recessed coin acceptors after each played game, then less hands are played at the table, thereby reducing the number of potential bets that could be placed at the table. Clearly, a coin support structure that enables a dealer to quickly remove the coins from the table and thereby play more hands is highly desirable.
Third, some casinos use clay gaming tokens. In use, these clay gaming tokens may be slid into the recess. When a gaming token is slid into the recess, the gaming token absorbs the impact of the gaming token being pushed against the side of the recess. Over a period of time, this frequent, periodic, impact placed on a clay gaming token may cause the clay gaming token to chip, thereby rendering the clay gaming token unusable. Thus, an apparatus which may increase the longevity of a gaming token would be desirable to a casino.
Also, currently, some gaming token detecting apparatuses use metal detecting sensors. One problem with such apparatuses is that they cannot be used in a casino that does not use gaming tokens that contain metal, such as casinos that use clay gaming tokens. Consequently, an apparatus that detect non-metallic gaming tokens but yet enables fast play would be desirable.